Thesis (B.A. (Hons.))--University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 1998. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 122 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-117).

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 22-25). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The explanation of the emergence of untaught behaviour has been a topic of considerable interest in behaviour analysis. The experiments in this thesis were designed to examine some of the processes underlying these emergent relations. In doing this, two different paradigms were examined - stimulus equivalence and transitive inference. The experiments leading to a formal definition of equivalence relations are reported, and the demonstration of cognitive abilities with both humans and non-humans described. The explanations proposed for the basis of stimulus equivalence are discussed. Data from five experiments are then presented. Experiment 1 considered the role of naming in stimulus equivalence and Experiment 2 contrasted this performance with the establishment of transitive inference, both experiments being carried out with adults with learning disabilities as subjects. The results from these experiments suggested that while naming behaviour may help to establish emergent relations, it may not be the basis of stimulus equivalence, and that it may be possible to account for performance on both stimulus equivalence and transitive inference tests in terms of reinforcement contingencies. While subjects who display stimulus equivalence are likely to also display transitive inferences, the reverse relation may not be true. Experiments 3 and 4 examined the effects of a disruption of the baseline relations on performance on transitive inference and stimulus equivalence tasks. These experiments were both carried out with normally able adults, adults with learning disabilities, and normally developing young children. Experiment 5 was a replication of Experiment 4 with a tighter methodology and a larger number of subjects with learning disabilities. It is suggested that the results obtained in Experiments 4 and 5 can be explained by the development of contextual control of the equivalence relations. The results from these experiments suggested that the transitive inference and stimulus equivalence paradigms may respectively be concrete and abstract examples of more general emergent relations. These paradigms may also prove to be very useful teaching tools for helping to establish emergent relations.

Ss were placed in a restraining apparatus like that designed by Azrin, Rubin and Hutchinson (1968). CS was a 5-sec noise, and UCS was a 550v tail shock, the duration of which was 200 msec. A bite on the metal target that was ½-in. from the nose of the rat was the UCR, the CR and the avoidance response. No evidence of either classical or avoidance conditioning was obtained. When Ss were subsequently placed in the paired aggression situation, the rate of attack against another rat was higher than for rats who had not had the prior experience in the restraining device with the metal target. Ss with this prior experience also attacked a rubber doll at a higher rate than naive Ss. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

In attempting to illustrate between-language semantic transfer French-English bilinguals were trained under a conditioning paradigm basically analogous to that used in unilingual semantic generalization studies. The major difference lay in the testing phase. That is, testing for conditioned responses (CRs) to the translations of the stimuli replaced testing for CRs to synonyms of the stimuli. Eight two-syllable nouns in both French and English were presented, with half the stimuli in each of the two languages paired with shock. Following the conditioning procedure shock was withheld and the translation of each of the stimuli was presented. Measures of Galvanic Skin Responses (GSRs) and digital and cephalic vasomotor activity were recorded during both training and testing. The results clearly indicated greater occurrence of GSRs to the translation of the words paired with shock than to the translation of the neutral words. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of digital vasomotor activity; however, cephalic readings suggested significant constriction to the translation of the stimuli which had been paired with shock. The occurrence of CRs to the translation of verbal stimuli suggests a form of mediated transfer from one language to another. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Following training to discriminate their own alpha and non-alpha production, five subjects were tested over five sessions to determine whether EEG alpha autocontrol by this method was similar to that produced in initial meditation practice sessions by five naive meditators. Both groups were compared with a control "resting" group of five subjects. Besides alpha data, an adjective checklist and questionnaire were scored. No significant differences on percent alpha or alpha length were found between groups. However, the interaction effect approached significance. Meditators produced the greatest amount of alpha on the first session only and subsequently decreased alpha production. They also experienced more negative feelings over the sessions. Alpha conditioned subjects increased alpha production slightly as did the controls who produced somewhat less alpha than the former group. Relevance of the results to previous studies was discussed. Suggestions for further controls and methodological improvements were proposed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

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